


The Hair Dye Debacle

by Silver_Spirit



Series: We'll Make It [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, My First Fanfic, References to Depression, maybe ooc?, still learning ao3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Spirit/pseuds/Silver_Spirit
Summary: "I wanna dye my hair."Otherwise known as my take on what would happen if Ateez were in university with the closest characterisation I could manage.
Relationships: Choi San & Jung Wooyoung, Choi San & Kang Yeosang, Jeong Yunho & Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung & Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: We'll Make It [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731529
Kudos: 22





	The Hair Dye Debacle

**Author's Note:**

> So... this is my first fanfic so I wasn't sure if I would ever post this but I'm stuck indoors and thought that if people want to read this why should I keep it to myself. That being said, I apologise for any mistakes made in this fic and hope you enjoy this snapshot into their lives in this world.

"I wanna dye my hair."  
The phrase came out of left field and San watched Wooyoung rise from his position sprawled across the foot of the bed to stare at him incredulously. San just stared back with wide eyes, innocent face on point if he does say so himself.  
"Why?! It's just growing out." Settling next to him the blonde haired boy ran his fingers through the long black strands interspersed with fading red streaks.  
"That's the point." Groaning Wooyoung threw himself backwards. Even that move was somewhat elegant and San had to marvel at the poise and grace his friend always seemed to possess, even when dramatically throwing himself on the bed.  
"But you'll just complain about looking after it for another 2 months. And then me and Yeosang will be stuck reminding you about your hair regime." He pouted mournfully and San returned the gesture, only on him it was world ending. He knew he'd won the minute Woo pressed his forehead against his folded forearms.  
"Argghhh! Why would you make that face? You're not playing fair."  
"Is that a yes?" Defeated he nodded, which then meant San launched to lay across his back and knocked the wind out of him.

****

Seonghwa looked up the stairs at the sound of screaming and yelling from San's room, but his attention was easily diverted when Hongjoong's head moved and the leader shuffled around in his sleep. The elder still had no idea how he had fallen asleep in the middle of some magical action movie that Yunho and Jongho were immersed in, but he was sound asleep. Mingi had even walked past and drawn whiskers on him with the cream from his cake, before snapping a picture, and he was still soundo. It was astounding honestly.  
Footsteps thundering down the stairs made him jolt and Hongjoong suddenly tensed before eyeing the excitable duo chattering near the door.  
"What are you doing?" They froze when they turned to Seonghwa and saw the dozing leader on his lap but relaxed at his sleepy state. That was until Hongjoong jolted upwards with a raised eyebrow.  
"Are you gonna answer his question?"  
They looked at each other before grinning at them guiltily.  
"San wants to dye his hair again. We were going to get some bleach and dye."  
Seonghwa scoffed and berated them "Your hair will start falling out soon. This is the third time in 4 months."  
"Hey! You're exaggerating and last time it was just the streaks."  
"Honestly, hyung, should you really be telling someone off about their hair with yours like that?" Yeosang had decided to join the conversations apparently, with the usual levels of sarcasm, and had settled on the single armchair in the corner of the living room. The eldest touched his hair consciously, and remembered it was currently white blonde thanks to a drunken game of truth or dare. He glared at the younger in reprimand and opened his mouth to continue when Hongjoong jumped up and skipped over to the duo.  
"Me too! I haven't dyed my hair in ages, since I got the mullet cut off." Whilst the three of them excitedly put on their shoes Seonghwa was left with his mouth hanging open and Yeosang smirking behind his hand. He had no words. Hongjoong was totally to blame for their behaviour he took no responsibility for this irresponsibility.  
"What's going on? Seonghwa-hyung looks like he's seen a ghost." Mingi was wiping the crumbs from his hand, but at the mention of hair dye the boy gave a little excited jump and scrambled to put on his shoes.  
"I saw something I want to try. Let's go!" The hyperactive giant as the first out the door and Hongjoong was the last, blowing a kiss to his baffled partner before the door swung shut behind him.  
"Why are we the normal half?" He whispered to himself, and was surprised again when Yunho finally moved for the first time in half an hour. It was probably to fanboy over something in the movie but he frowned when he saw Hongjoong was gone. "Where'd Hongjoong-hyung go?" No words, Seonghwa had none.  
"They all went to buy hair dye." Jongho then went on to relay the entire conversation to his friend and once again Seonghwa was flabbergasted. Jongho always looked like he was ignoring them but then came out with some of the most detailed explanantions Seonghwa had ever heard. He was a little scared to say anything in front of the maknae these days.  
Yeosang couldn't resist his hyung's confusion. "Still think were the normal ones, hyung?" Seonghwa just groaned and threw his head back on the backrest to the sound of Jongho's steady explanation.  
He needed a nap.

****

He'd only wanted to make the tips of his hair lighter, but once in the shop Mingi had found himself with an armful of colours the others had thrown his way as they browsed. He had green, red, purple and some sort of orange and they were still looking. He sighed in defeat when San and Wooyoung wandered to the next aisle but was quickly distracted by the selection of face masks. So sue him but a bit of relaxation was a welcome distraction from everything else life threw at him. He was so distracted he failed to notice that Hongjoong had also moved out of the aisle in search of bleach. That was until he heard someone speaking an unfamiliar language, and was faced with a blond foreigner woman clearly waiting for a reply. In a panic he looked for Hongjoong, the only one fluent in English, or even San, who was fluent enough. To his dismay they were the only ones in the aisle. She asked something else and recognised enough to realise she was asking him about the products. How was he supposed to tell her which ones were better?  
"Sorry, I don't speak English?" Hoping that conveyed his predicament he almost sighed in relief when she went back to browsing with a confused frown. Now he wished he could have helped, so after shuffling the products in his arm he pointed out one he thought would suit her face. "This best for you."  
Finally Hongjoong came back, clearly looking for him and was surprised to find the tall boy attempting to help the foreign woman with her choice. A small giggle escaped before he moved to rescue the younger from his predicament, throwing the dark blue he'd found onto the pile as well as the bleach. Mingi smiled excitedly before asking him to translate, and finally he was able communicate. He really needed to pay more attention next time Hongjoong tried to teach them English.

*****

Maybe this was a bad idea.  
Once the others had left Seonghwa had traipsed upstairs to take a nap and Yeosang had settled more comfortably in his armchair by the window with his earphones in, ignoring both Yunho and the maknae who had commandeered the kitchen. They were hungry but with Seonghwa dead on his feet from work and school and then Wooyoung and Hongjoong out, they were left to their own devices. Yeosang was having a bad day so they'd decided not to bother him either. It was safe to say that most of the time they were all so busy that cooking came second; the group had survived on instant ramen for a while with an increase in workload from both school and their part time jobs. The latter was in an effort to keep with the cost of the house now that they were 2 men down.  
Yunho considered that they may be banned from the kitchen after this. Currently, Jongho was leaning away from the steaming pile of egg in the pan whilst he was mopping up the spilt milk from making said mess in a panic, praying the fire alarm wouldn't go off and wake up Seonghwa. Wooyoung had made this look so easy when he'd cooked the other day. It was not easy. A sudden tapping on his shoulder caused Yunho to jump in fright but it was just Yeosang. Sighing the boy picked up another rag and wiped up the remaining mess before confiscating the pan from Jongho and throwing it in the sink. They both watched him pour boiling water and washing up liquid in it before turning back around to face them.  
"So, since the kitchen has become a safety hazard, who's going to call them and ask them to bring back dinner?" Yunho winced in apology and offered to make the call.  
Maybe he should just stick to dancing.

*****

"Wooyoung?"  
The boy in question turned around from where he was tapping away on his phone in a meme war with Jongho to face a shock of blue hair. And by shock he meant 'shock', the strands crimped within an inch of their life to stand in a poofy mess.  
"Yeonjun!" He couldn't help the giggle that escaped "What happened to your hair?"  
Yeonjun's eyes widened and he put both palms on the mess in an attempt to flatten it from his friends eyes, but there was no hiding it in the end.  
"I have a friend in a stylist apprenticeship and she wanted to practice something on me. I swear I had no idea what was going to happen until she crimped the first few pieces. It was too late by then."  
Wooyoung had done and admirable job holding it in until that point, but the disgruntled pout was the final straw and he burst into full on laughter, bending at the waist to try and catch his breath.  
"Well, at least some poor soul won't be subjected to that in the future."  
"Am I not a poor soul? Look at this mess!"  
Wooyoung pouted at him sarcastically. "You let a fashion student mess with your hair on a whim, don't look at me for pity. I have one of those at home but I would never let him mess with my hair without knowing exactly what he was going to do, even if he's my best friend."  
Yeonjun sighed in defeat and Wooyoung had to grin at his victory. To him Yeonjun would always be one of his favourite people just because of how he'd treated Yeosang, but it helped that they actually got along and were close friends without Yeosang in the picture anymore.  
"How's Yeosang doing?" Yeonjun was actually concerned and knew enough that Wooyoung didn't even try to sugarcoat anything. He knew Yeosang wouldn't want him to.  
"He's not too great today. But overall he's doing well."  
"Maybe I should give him a call."  
Wooyoung smiled. "I think he'd like that." Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind causing him to yelp, but he quickly settled when he recognised San's distinct grip. He was very much like a koala.  
"Hi, who're you?" It seemed a bit rude for San and Wooyoung was shocked to the point where he tried to move in San's grip to look at his face, but he was held firm. Curse his small friends workout regime. In an effort to calm him he rubbed circles into his hand that was resting over his chest. Yeonjun took it in stride with a small smile though and answered.  
"I'm Yeonjun, an old friend of Wooyoung's. You're San right? He's told me about you. I should come to the gym one day so you can teach me some moves." Wooyoung relaxed at Yeonjun's friendly tone despite the blunt introduction and he prayed San would settle quickly. To his relief he let go and had a smile on his face.  
"Anytime, if you have the room I can even give you some stuff to use at home."  
"Ah, well..." Yeonjun seemed hesitant and it made Wooyoung pause. His friend had a nice apartment there was definitely room for some weights, maybe even a boxing bag. "I'm living with a friend right now, and his little brother also lives there so it's a little cramped."  
"What happened to your apartment?" Wooyoung asked  
"The lease was up and the landlord wanted to sell so I couldn't renew it. My friend has to move out soon as well so we're looking for a place together. So far nothing and we have about 2 months to find something." Yeonjun see me distressed by his predicament and even San made a small hum next to him in consolation."  
"Well, good luck with it. You'll find something soon. And message me if you do find anything. I'll ask around in the meantime."  
"Thanks Woo, I'll see you soon." Wooyoung moved in for a hug and they gripped each other tightly before Yeonjun left with a small wave.  
Feeling slightly down Wooyoung turned to face San.  
"So that's Yeonjun then?"  
"Yeah.. He's one of the best people I know. It sucks about his apartment though."  
"We'll help him Wooyoungie, I'll ask around too"  
San had a big heart and Wooyoung sometimes forgot. But it was moments like this where he remembered just how much he loved that side of him.  
"Thanks Sannie. He deserves our help. After everything, he really does."

*****

Normally Jongho avoided going upstairs on principle unless Hongjoong wanted some help for some guides. San and Wooyoung, even Mingi, always dragged him into something so at this point he was happy to stay on the ground floor. Today, though, he was standing outside of the shared bathroom watching Wooyoung washing out bleach from San's hair whilst Hongjoong kept batting Mingi's hand away from his bleached tips.  
The bleach itself had long burned it's way past his nostrils so he couldn't even smell the food. They'd brought back some meat that Yeosang had run away to cook, so those four had decided to at least bleach their hair before dinner. Hongjoong had somehow managed to finish his by now, an impressive feat since his hair was actually quite long and he'd been trying temper the energy exuded by the other three at the same time.  
Jongho had seen the colour on the box and was almost blinded by it's intensity. Seonghwa was in for a shock.  
Was he still asleep?  
He jolted when Wooyoung screeched and saw San attempting to rub bleach into his newly dyed black strands, Wooyoung having decided to let it grow out as his roots were getting rather noticeable.  
"Jongho-yah, do you want to dye yours?" Mingi had asked the question to be mischievous but they were all shocked when it took him a minute answer with a no.  
Jongho wasn't averse to dying his hair, he'd changed to a light brown in the past but only because he had bent to peer pressure from his friends back then. He was wondering whether to give it another go, the colours intriguing him somewhat. They said university was the time to experiment. At that moment Yunho popped his head round to tell them dinner was ready.  
"Hyung, don't you have to wake Seonghwa-hyung." Hongjoong's face dropped at San's words but he quickly smoothed his features. Seonghwa did not enjoy being disturbed when sleeping, Jongho knew from experience.  
"I guess so. We'll be down in a minute." Jongho was the last to leave but his phone buzzing in his pocket made him pause, a small smile gracing his features. He could feel Hongjoong's knowing gaze but ignored it in favour of answering the call in a soft voice.  
"Hey."

*****

"Seonghwa..." Hongjoong drew the words out with a soft tone to try and smooth the damage from waking him up. The boy in question was wrapped up in their double duvet, face unlined and peaceful and Hongjoong couldn't help but give a small smile. His partner had been stressed for a few months with the price of mortgage becoming more excessive since Mingi lost his job. Wooyoung was also not earning anything whilst he was apprenticing in a company based in economics... or something. Honestly Wooyoung was a bit of a mystery and was notorious for disappearing from time to time around the country. His presence was sorely missed at that time as he was the trio's stability. Dealing with the remaining two without him was taxing for everyone.  
Gently he shook the shoulder of a sleeping Seonghwa and was rewarded, this time, his eyes opening and regarding him sleepily.  
"Hi..." It was soft but firm, keeping him in the conscious world, and Hongjoong expected to have to pat him again, but to his surprise the world became inverted and he landed with his back on the mattress. Seonghwa hovered over him with an annoyingly aware smirk on his face.  
"Hi"  
"That's not fair. You weren't actually asleep were you." The pout he gave was responded with by a small kiss that quickly turned heated. When they broke apart Seonghwa went in for another kiss but Hongjoong tilted his head away.  
"Dinner. Food remember..."  
"I'm okay without food"  
"But I'm not." With that he wiggled out from under the other boys body and stood with his arms crossed, waiting.  
"You're going to keep glaring at me until I move, aren't you."  
His answer was the glare continued, and so he heaved himself up with a sigh. The response... a giant beaming smile and Hongjoong knew his boyfriend was absolutely weak to his smile.  
He promised to only use such power for good though.

"I still can't believe you burnt my favourite pan!"  
Wooyoung was glaring at Yunho and Jongho sat in front if him with cold eyes as they all dug into the meat Yeosang had cooked. The cook in question was at the end of the table ignoring everyone, and Hongjoong would be worried if he couldn't see Wooyoung subtly resting a hand on his thigh with a grounding grip. San and Mingi were sat on the same side of the table and Seonghwa was on the end next to him, watching with amusement as their tallest member cowered with puppy dog eyes at Woo's berating. Jongho on his other side was so focused on the food Hongjoong doubted Wooyoung would get a response until he was done. He was listening though.  
"We'll replace the pan Wooyoung-ah, eat your food." Pouting at Seonghwa the boy placed a piece of beef in his mouth and chewed it aggressively.  
"Actually, there's something I should mention. The drama society are setting up a showcase in a few months with the dance course students that they want us to perform for."  
"Why would the drama society want us to perform?" Mingi was dubious  
"They've seen some of the previous competition footage. Also, they don't just want us to perform, they want us to help all round with music, production and stuff. Even stunts; they asked me to ask you guys and said we can use it as a work reference in the future." San perked up at those words and Jongho paused.  
"We're busy enough as it is Yunho, I don't think we can all help with this." Yunho grimaced  
"I don't want to perform without anyone here, so if we can't all do it I'll leave it out. But I miss us all performing together."  
The table sobered quickly but the surprise came when Yeosang spoke up, staring past Yunho's shoulder with misty eyes. "We should do it. It's been too long." No one wanted to deny him that and Seonghwa looked at Hongjoong for help. He had no answer for him and shrugged, it was Seonghwa that would suffer the most so he would leave it in his partner's hands.  
"Okay, I guess we'll do it." Yeosang looked at the eldest and smiled, properly. To Hongjoong that was worth all the exhaustion and pain the next few months would bring; because he knew this was going to be one giant mountain to climb, and they needed each other to get to the top.

*****

"Did you see Seonghwa's face when Hongjoong showed him his hair? I thought he was going to eat him then and there." Wooyoung giggled into Yeosang's side as they lay on his bed. The boy in question just groaned and closed his eyes.  
"Laugh all you want, your room isn't right next to theirs. Mingi's already invaded Yunho's room downstairs; I think he'll get kicked out and stay in Jongho's since maknae's gone walkabout again. Won't be home tonight, by the way." With a pouty face Wooyoung looked up at him and rested more heavily on his stomach.  
"Do you want me to stay tonight?" He nodded in response and they both settled comfortably. That was until San made his presence known and jumped on top of them, crushing Wooyoung's skull into his abdomen, causing him to launch up and them all to tumble off the bed.  
"For God's sake San!" Yeosang crawled back into his spot and huffed at the tangle of limbs wrestling on his floor.  
"Sorry!" The both of them settled in again and Yeosang couldn't help but run his hands through the ashy blond head of hair San was sporting. As he moved the long strands to the side he saw a flash of purple and realised that underneath the blond there was a bright lilac.  
"It looks good." The murmur was heard and San grinned at him before cuddling in closer, Wooyoung was already asleep if his heavy weight was anything to go by. "Wooyoung's staying in here tonight, you staying as well?" He nodded and they all lay in silence for a while. Just when he thought San had drifted off he spoke.  
"Are you sure about this dance thing. Wooyoung told me enough to know it's hard for you."  
"Are you telling me you don't miss competing? With this group."  
"I'm not saying that. Even if it was only a few times, I miss it like crazy. But you shouldn't push yourself-"  
"That's exactly it though, I need to start pushing myself. I've been in this house, doing my schoolwork, and editing, for months. I think my attendance is one of the worst in the university. I need to do something, and I think this will help."  
"I just don't want you to take so many steps back again." Yeosang smiled and pulled them both closer.  
"If that ever happens, which it won't, but if it ever does know that I will keep fighting. Always." With that they both relaxed and fell asleep comforting one another with that in their minds. Always fighting.

**Author's Note:**

> If you read till the end, thank you. I have done some worldbuilding for this universe and have considered continuing the story with a prequel or sequel. With all the time on my hands it is more of a possibility than ever so I will work on it to the best of my ability. Stay safe everyone X


End file.
